Machine eor



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL BRAYER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING STAVES.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 23,550, dated April 12, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL BRAYER, of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Machinefor Cutting Staves; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure l, is a side sectional view of my invention taken in the lineFig. 2. Fig. 2, is a plan or top sectional view of do., taken in theline y, y, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of stave cuttingmachines in which a knife having a curvilinear movement is employed forcutting the staves in curved form direct from the bolt.

The invention consists in the employment or use of levers fitted in thebed of the machine and arranged substantially as here inafter described,to aid in removing the waste or refuse pieces of the bolts from themachine.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand` and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents the bed of the machine which is inclined, as shown clearlyin Fig. l, and fitted between side pieces a, a, which are secured on anyproper framing. In the inner surfaces of the side pieces a, a, and neartheir front ends curved grooves b, b, are made, one in each side piece,said grooves forming portions of circles corresponding to the desiredtransverse curvature of the staves to be cut.

B, represents a knife gate which is of cast iron. This gate may bedescribed as being formed of four different parts, two side pieces c, c,each of which is provided at its outer side with a way or guide d, whichguides correspond in curvature with the grooves b, Z), and are fittedtherein. The

ate also has a top curved plate e, which forms the bed for a knife f,and a lower plate g, which forms a gage. The inner surface of the lowerplate g, is provided with a series of guides 7L, which are parallel witheach other, and fit in recesses or grooves i, in the front edge of thebed A. To each side piece c, an arm j, is attached, and these arms areprovided with journals la, which work in bearings Z, attached to theside pieces a, a. The journals are at the centers of circles of whichthe grooves Z1, b, and ways or guides d, d, form portions. The arms j,j, extend a short distance in front of the gate B, as shown in bothfigures.

The upper plate or knife bed e, it will be seen curves inward so as toform a throat m, for the knife f, as shown clearly in Fig. l.

In the bed A, two'bent levers '11 n, are placed. The form of theselevers is shown clearly in Fig. l, and their lower ends below the bedare connect-ed by a cross bar 0.

The operation of the machine is as follows z-The bolt, shown in red fromwhich the staves are cut is got out of proper dimensions and placed onthe bed A, the bolt feeding itself by its own gravity to the gage theinclination of bed A, permitting such result. Power is applied to theouter ends of the arms j, j, in any proper way and a reciprocatingmotion is given the gate B, the knife j", cutting a stave from the bolteach time it descends. The staves as they are cut pass through thethroat m, and each time the knife ascends the bolt descends to the gageg, and assumes a proper position for the succeeding descent of theknife.

The refuse of the bolt is removed from the bed A, by tilting upward thelevers n, n, which is done by shoving forward the cross bar 0,' thismovement of the levers throws the refuse block or waste piece backwardfrom the gate and prevents the possibility of the operator being injuredby the knife, the movement of which need not be stopped. By having thegate B, provided with ways or guides cl,.cZ, fitted in grooves b, b, inthe side pieces a, a, of the bed A, and by having the guides h, of gageg, fitted in the front end of the bed A, the knife gate is made tooperate perfectly true, not liable to be aected by wear as good bearingsurfaces are obtained, and any irregular movement is prevented whichwould otherwise attend a slight wear of the journals c, or bearings Z.

I do not claim a reciprocating knife gate in combination with theinclined bed A, ai*- Workng in the arc of a circle for Such deviceranged substantially as and for the purhas been previously used; but,

Having thus described my invention, what 5 I do claim as new and desireto secure by Vitnesses:

Letters Patent, is,

The employment or use 'of the levers n, n,

pose set forth.

MICHAEL BRAYER.

MATHIAS THoNDoLF, W. H. LAWToN.

